Yes, you do need this.

When you first heard the term “portable shower”, what did you picture? A Port-A-Potty, except a shower? Or something like that shower costume somebody breaks out every Halloween? In any case, something “portable” in the sense that it’s not actually affixed to the ground, and not portable in the sense that you can carry it in a good-sized backpack, right?

Well, that’s what we thought. Then we actually saw one and were stunned by its elegant simplicity. A portable shower doesn’t need a curtain. It doesn’t need a drain. It doesn’t need a water tank. Just a pump, a hose, and a nozzle. If you’ve got a source of water - whether it’s a bucket or the Pacific Ocean - you’ve got a shower. Brilliant.

That simplicity flips the question of “what can you use it for?” around to “what can’t you use it for?” Amazon customers cite everything from the obvious (dog baths, camping, washing cars) to the adventurous (music festivals, overseas missionary work, “living in a dry cabin in North Pole, Alaska”). The one thing it doesn’t do is warm the water up, so those showers will be frigid at worst, tepid at best. But otherwise, this portable shower is so cool, so versatile, we’re sure we’ll find something to do with it.

And so will you. If nothing else, you could have a really kick-ass Halloween costume this year.